Hacker have gotten successful in stealing valuable information of a large gaming publisher Electronic Arts (EA), the company said.
The attack was aimed at the EA systems and hackers now claim to have gotten access to the source code to EA games such as the FIFA 21 and the Frostbite game engine which is used as the base for a number of other games.
780 GB Data Hacked
News of the hack was first reported by the Vice news site which revealed that about 780 GB of data was stolen.
EA says that it’s players credentials and sensitive data was not stolen in the cyber attack.
It is one of the largest gaming companies in the world. Electronic Arts (EA) counts major series such as Battlefield, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, The Sims, and Titanfall among the titles it develops or publishes – as well as a vast array of annual sports games.
Is Your Data At Risk?
“We will examine the most recent developments in our network when it was a limited amount of the game source code and other tools have been compromised with,” an EA spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the team at EA, none of the player’s data was compromised , and that they have no reason to believe that there is a risk to the privacy of the players. A spokesperson confirmed the same.
The company said it has already improved the security and said that it “is expected to impact the game, or for our business”.
Law enforcement agencies have also been contacted.
Network Intrusion
“The network compromise was not a ransomware attack that happened recently, EA added to its statement.
In its report, the VICE mentioned that it saw screenshots of the hacking forums used by the attackers, who are advertising the stolen data for sale
What Is A Source Code?
The source code of any software is very general, easier to read and understand than the more complex final version of the products.
For example, the Frostbite engine whose source code is now out there in the open is a powerful game creation tool, which is used by the company in games from FIFA to Battlefield series and also the last few games of the Star Wars from EA.
The source code for the engine could hold significant value for an unscrupulous developer willing to copy it, or for those making cheat codes and hacks for games.
But it is unlikely that any mainstream competitor to EA would ever use such stolen data.
